Everything
by Spottedeyes
Summary: "My soul hasn't been tainted like you think. Just because I train with them doesn't mean I'm like them. You've never seen one, let alone talk to one. Why do you even care? You just sat there and laughed along with everyone else while I was beaten, you know, that first time I came to try to be like you guys. You just can't stand me. I'm everything I'm not supposed to be."
1. Chapter 1

Everything

**Trying to get inspiration back for The Selection Course with another Eevee story. **

"No, no, no! Your stitching lines, they're uneven and too far spread from each other." The Glaceon fussed, taking the thread in between her teeth and pulling most of the sloppy stitching out.

"Sorry," a young Eevee muttered, rolling her eyes.

The ice type ignored her, continuing her rant. "Honestly, Nova, no one in their right mind, even the poorest of the poor, wouldn't put _this _monstrosity on their dinner table."

"Karen, it's just a table cloth that I'm doing for practice, calm down." Nova sighed.

"No, it's not a practice run! Were you listening to me at all? You're next in line to run this store and if you can't do something as simple as finish a table cloth with clean stitching, ugh, I don't know what I'm going to do with you."

"Alright, well I just don't like sewing. It's boring. I'd rather be outside playing with Farah and Stephanie and Hilary."

"Well you can go out and play if you can make your lines more prim and presentable. It's not that hard."

"Easy for you to say, you've had so much practice, I mean you've been running this store for hundreds of years now."

"Nova! I only evolved a few years ago!"

"Whatever."

"Please just finish the cloth." Karen pleaded, sounding exasperated.

"It was almost done until you undid everything!" She yelled, glaring accusingly at her.

"That cloth wasn't good enough to sell, that's why I undid it."

"Well I liked it! If someone was selling it I would buy it! Who cares about the stitching?"

"Everyone with eyes."

"Just leave me alone!"

The Glaceon rolled her eyes and went back to her frilly wedding ribbons. Nova growled under her breath, staring disdainfully at the blue and white checkered table cloth. She stared at the cloth for a moment before smirking. Picking the needle and thread into her jaws, Nova started to stitch as sloppily as possible, making sure the stitch lines were far spread and in ragged zigzags. She took her time though, knowing that her mentor would grow suspicious if she finished too quickly.

XXX

"Wow… see, Nova? I told you if you just took your time and concentrated that your stitching would drastically improve." Karen said, thoroughly impressed as she inspected the near-perfect stitch job.

"So… can I go play now?" Nova asked, praying that Karen wouldn't inspect the other side.

"Of course! Just be back by sun-down."

Nova beamed at her response, hurrying out of the store before Karen would see through her ploy. The Eevee knew that her trick would only work once, so she had to enjoy this while it lasted. Her paws thudded along the uneven cobblestone path, weaving between other townsfolk as she ran towards Farah's house.

The Fennekin had the same 'glamorous' career path that she did, only she actually liked it. In fact, it had been Farah who'd done most of the work on that table cloth…

The two were both taught at the same store. It was the only sewing store in town. Any fabricated items that did not come from that store came from the poor townsfolk who were desperate for poké. Farah was lucky, she was already good at sewing so she didn't have to come in for training everyday like Nova did.

Nova reached Farah's house rather quickly, pawing at her door immediately. Farah's father, an Arcanine, answered the door.

"Mr. Ernie, is Farah home?" Nova asked.

The powerful fire type shook his head. "No, you just missed her actually. She went back to the store to start her training early so she would have more free time tomorrow."

Nova sighed, "alright, thanks anyway."

_Maybe Steph's home. _She thought, heading over to the fields.

XXX

Nova's shoulders sagged when she saw the other Eevee still digging holes in the berry field.

"Hey, Stephanie! How's work going?" She hollered, happily stepping into the mud.

The squishy, wet, cold feeling of stepping in mud always brought a smile to her face. Nova almost forgot she had said something to Stephanie. The muddy Eevee looked in Nova's direction, her face brightening at the sight of her friend.

"Oh, hey, Nova! What brings you here?" She asked, hopping through the muddy fields to get to Nova.

"I was just wondering if you finished working the fields yet. I just finished my training for the day and I was hoping you were done too."

Stephanie gave her a goofy smile. "What'd you do this time? You never get out of that store before moon-rise."

Nova giggled, "I just showed Karen the side of the cloth that Farah did and hid the side that I sewed."

"That sounds 'bout right."

"Well you can't just expect me to actually _try _to sew something. Arceus your job is so much cooler than mine, Steph. I would kill to get to be outside and play in the dirt like this all day." Nova sighed, staring enviously at Stephanie's mud-caked fur.

"It ain't as great as you'd think," Stephanie smiled, kicking some mud off her back leg. "When it's real hot out, the mud gets real thick and has this gross feel to it while it dries up. Trust me, staying inside and working on something that will always make you money sounds way better than this."

"What do you mean? Everyone buys food." Nova scoffed.

"No, I mean if the berry trees don't grow or make good fruit, well I'm screwed."

"Yeah but-"

"Stephanie! What are you doin'? We got work to do! Stop talkn' with your friend and plant the rest of 'em!" Stephanie's mother, a Leafeon, yelled from the far side of Stephanie's family fields.

Stephanie sighed. "Gotta go, sorry."

"It's fine-"

Stephanie had already gone.

_Hopefully Hilary's done baking. _

XXX

A line of Pokémon stretched all the way out of the bakery's doors. Nova sighed in defeat. Seeing the Vulpix when the store was that busy would be near impossible.

"Only me…" She muttered, feeling stumped.

She started back down the street, out of friends to visit. Nova began wandering, staring at the uneven cobblestone path that lay underpaw so she wouldn't trip. The Eevee didn't know where exactly she was going anymore. She zoned out after walking down a few streets, her movements becoming almost robotic.

"Move out of the way!" A voice shouted, barreling into Nova.

Nova yelped in surprise as she was shoved a few paces in front of her. She looked up to see a Shinx and an Eevee. The Shinx got up first and glared at Nova.

"Stupid girl," he muttered, turning back to his companion, "come on, Eric, we're late for battle practice."

"Yeah, I know that." The Eevee sighed, shaking the dust from his pelt and taking a glance at Nova.

The Shinx started towards the direction of the castle.

The Eevee's blank look turned into a glare, "next time, watch it."

He then ran after the Shinx. Nova got to her paws, not bothering to shake the grit from her fur as she started running in the direction that the Eevee and Shinx had ran. She wanted to yell at them to wait up, but she knew they'd just yell at her more then try and lose her. Nova winced when she saw the two take a sharp turn, knowing that she'd skin her paw pads on the path when she followed.

_This better be worth it. _She thought, sucking in another breath and gaining a burst of speed.

Nova began to notice that the houses were gradually growing in size and quality. They were mostly made of brick and cobblestone just like the other houses, but the blocks seemed to be in perfect rows with fresh, new filler rather than the houses and buildings down where she lived. Each home also had a small yard with near-perfect plants flowering within them. She smiled at the thought of having her own house.

_Well I did a few years ago. _The girl reminded herself.

Suddenly, the Shinx and Eevee ran in between two houses, knocking over some clay flower pots in the process. Nova's eyes widened as she took the unexpected turn, yelping when some shards of the pots dug into her paws, but she kept going. There weren't any more houses after that one. Her heart sped up when she realized how close she was to the wall that circled the entire kingdom. How close she was to the danger that lurked outside of the Lumin Kingdom.

Her mind had often wandered and conjured up horrid, twisted dangers that could possibly lay in wait for her in the forest just on the other side of the wall. She started weaving in between tree stumps. They were enormous in width and overall thickness. Nova was tempted to slow down and examine them more closely, having never seen any in person. But the walls blocked out the forest for a reason, and technically the stumps still belonged to the forest, meaning to her that she was still at risk for an attack.

_The Eevee and Shinx would surely stop to save me if anything were to happen, wouldn't they? _She asked herself somewhat nervously.

Her lungs burned as she continued, but she knew those two were a part of something that she might want to be a part of too. Nova forced herself to keep going. The young Eevee looked ahead past the sea of stumps to see the shining jewel of the kingdom up ahead. It was glorious and perfect, free of any flaws. The castle stood proudly on the tallest hill within the walls, standing just a few feet higher than the walls themselves. That was the closest she'd ever been to the castle. She grinned and continued on, hoping the two would go all the way to the castle.

XXX

By the time the two had stopped, Nova's paws felt like they were going to drop off. She hung back from the two in the rose bushes, not caring about the thorns ripping at her fur.

"McKinley's going to be so mad at us." The Eevee muttered, panting rather loudly as he regained his breath.

"Naw, it's going to be me that dies," the Shinx retorted, "you're practically his boss."

"Well then I'll make sure you don't get in trouble." He grumbled, trotting along the castle's gates until he started declining down a trail.

"Eric, come on don't get in a bad mood." The Shinx pleaded, following his friend.

"Eric." Nova echoed, having heard the name twice now.

She proceeded down the trail where the two had gone down. Battle cries started to fill her ears as she got further down. Her chocolate-colored eyes brightened at the sounds, getting jittery at the thought of getting to participate in an actual battle.

"Eric! Brighton! Why are you thirty minutes late?" A voice demanded.

Nova froze up and started to walk more calmly and quietly.

"We lost track of time, I apologize." The Eevee said with an edge to his voice.

"Yes." The Shinx agreed.

"Just start training, I'm sure Ben or Jake will catch you slackers up on what I showed everyone." The voice responded.

Nova started running again when the speaker's voice calmed a little. She didn't realize the path was very short. Nova stumbled into the open. A Pyroar stood closest to where Nova had come in, glaring at her.

"What are you doing here?" He growled.

Nova looked behind him, ignoring the question. About a hundred pre-evolved male Pokémon were paired up, sparring roughly with each other on the hot sand that was underpaw. A Growlithe with blood dripping from its muzzle glared at her.

"What's _that _doing here?"

All eyes fell on Nova; the fighting ceased.

"You!" The Eevee who she had followed to the area growled from his place in the back.

"What's everyone doing?" Nova asked, looking straight up at the Pyroar.

He bared his yellowing fangs at the young Eevee. "Girls aren't welcome here." The fire type snarled.

Nova stared up at him skeptically. "Why not? I just want to see what's going on."

"Warrior training isn't for little girls like you-"

"What about when I'm older? Maybe when I evolve can I come back?" Nova interrupted.

"No!" The lion-like Pokémon hissed, turning to the bleeding Growlithe. "Goliath, teach her that this isn't for wee-little girls like her."

The Growlithe nodded, stepping away from his sparring partner until he was at the Pyroar's side. The Pyroar glared at Growlithe.

"What don't you get about teaching her a lesson? Fight her!" He roared, shoving him forward.

Nova's eyes widened in surprise, getting into a clumsy battle position. The Growlithe laughed at her and got into a much firmer, professional-looking stance.

"Ladies first." He growled mockingly.

Nova nodded, determined to prove them wrong. She ran at the fire type, who merely side-stepped her. Nova stumbled onto the ground, getting up as quickly as her tired body could and turning around. The Growlithe immediately spewed out hundreds of tiny embers, each of them landing on Nova. She didn't know what else to do other than take it, so she stood in front of the attack until the embers subsided, only to be tackled to the ground and have her leg bitten.

"Get up." The Pyroar muttered.

The Growlithe nodded and stepped off Nova, leaving her as nothing more than a disheveled, dust-covered lump of fur on the ground. Nova sat up a few moments after that, her ears ringing from the ferocity of the blows. She knew her forearm was bleeding. The girl stared up at Pyroar.

"Now you know why you aren't welcome here, get out." He said, plain and simple.

Nova wanted to stay, not to give them the satisfaction and smug feeling of driving her out; but she was tired, bleeding, and humiliated. She wanted to cry. She shook her head lightly to herself as she turned back towards the path that she came down. Nova didn't want them to see her cry or bleed or look the slightest bit defeated. She heard them mocking her, laughing at her as she began to leave.

Keeping her last shred of dignity, she held her head and tail up high and walked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Nova limped away from the castle, her ears burning with embarrassment and her leg throbbing and bleeding. She looked behind her, scowling at the crimson trail she left. Nova wanted to go back to the shop, to go and tell Karen what'd happened, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Karen's gonna be so mad at me." She sighed as she reached the multitude of tree stumps.

The Eevee sat down beside one of the stumps closer to the wall, eyeing her leg with some concern. She'd never bled like this before. The funny thing was, although it scared her a little, it _excited _her all the same; the rush of the fight, even though she had been losing, was something that sewing a table cloth would never give her. She looked wistfully at the castle. Nova wanted to do what they did. Or at least give it a try, it looked a lot more exciting than what would await her back at the sewing shop.

"I can hear it now: 'What were you thinking?! You're a lady, Nova, and a lady cannot do battle!" She muttered, envisioning the Glaceon's horrified expression.

Although Nova didn't want this path, she couldn't do anything about it. After her parents' passing, Karen was made her legal guardian because of her parents' desire for her take after every other female in the family and sew at the shop. Nova scowled. She was not one to sit inside all day. She started putting words in Karen's mouth once more.

"Your family wanted you to help me run the shop, not go around disgracing your family," Nova muttered in her best fake Karen voice she could do, "now you will stay inside forever so you can't get your paws dirty."

"Or… I can heal you and she'll never find out." A voice offered.

Nova gasped and leapt to her paws, looking frantically for the speaker.

"Over here, by the wall." The voice called out again.

Her heart pounding, Nova slowly inched towards the huge cinderblock wall, eyeing it warily.

"Who's there?" She asked.

"Hang on and you'll see." The voice grunted.

Nova froze when she heard a scraping sound. "What are you doing?"

"Getting inside the wall."

"No! Keep out of here! You're out there for a reason!"

"A dumb one." The voice retorted.

"N-no, you're locked out for a good reason!" Nova shouted.

"Says who? Do you even know why the wall's here?"

"Um…"

"Is it because that stupid king of yours says so? Because he doesn't know everything you know."

"He knows what's bes-" Nova trailed off when a Poocheyena approached her, a smug look on his face.

He looked back at the wall. "Some wall you've got here." The dark type laughed.

Trying her best not to shake, Nova responded. "Get out."

"Come with me."

"No!"

"Why not? You're obviously unhappy here."

"Yeah but- No, I'm plenty happy working at the dumb sewing shop with stupid Karen!" She shouted stiffly, glaring at the Poocheyena.

"Can't fix you if you don't leave your silly little kingdom." He said.

"No thanks."

The Poocheyena sighed, "if I tell you my name will you reconsider or something? Because no one's going to take the 'I fell in the brambles' excuse when they see that bloody mess of a leg."

Nova didn't reply.

"I'll take that as a yes. I'm Derek, and you are?" Derek asked.

"Nova." Nova muttered, not meeting Derek's gaze.

"You know, with a name like that you'd fit right in with my group," he said, staring at her crimson leg, "we can train you. It's obvious you like to fight."

Nova narrowed her eyes, "just because I'm bleeding doesn't mean that I'm pugnacious. I just made a dumb move."

"Fine, stay in your sexist little kingdom."

"What do you mean? We're not sexist-"

"All your soldiers are males, and the hardest job they give to Pokémon like you is work in the berry fields. Admit it, it's a sexist kingdom."

Nova gritted her teeth. She'd been humiliated enough for one day and she didn't want to let this outsider win too. She forced a glare and stepped back.

"I think I'll just go to the shop and take it."

"But you don't have to." Derek said. "Just outside the walls is freedom. Why are you afraid of doing something more with your life?"

"I'm not afraid!" Nova bristled, shaking as she struggled to hold her ground.

"Hey, how old are you?" He asked suddenly.

"Ten." Nova muttered.

"You're only ten and you know words like 'pugnacious'? In here you grow up too fast. Where I'm from, you take your time. Yeah, sure you have to do battle training and help around the community-"

"Well that makes me smarter than you-"

"Not true. One of my other friends, Sterling, she's plenty smart."

"Just what do you want?" Derek sighed and sat down. "Look, I don't want anything from you. So come with me, don't come with me. I don't care."

Nova stared at the Poocheyena for a few more moments before exhaling loudly. "Fine."

Derek quickly brightened up, jumping to his paws and wagging his tail.

"Really? That's awesome! Come on!" He yapped, prancing back to the wall like an excited puppy.

The Eevee limped after Derek, looking over her shoulder at the rising moon.

_Karen's going to kill me when I come back… _She thought miserably as she slid under the wall through the tight hole that Derek had dug.

Nova shrunk back when she saw what was on the other side. It was a thick oak forest, or at least she thought it looked thick.

"C'mon! We don't have all night!" Derek barked, trotting happily into the forest.

"Are you sure about this?" Nova asked uncertainly.

"Of course. I live here." He replied simply.

She gave a small nod and followed him deeper into the forest.

XXX

"Derek… I-"

"Am scared? Yeah I can tell." Derek smirked.

Nova frowned at the Poocheyena in the faint light.

"Not funny! How can you stand it in here? It's so… dark, and desolate." She asked.

"Maybe for a normal type like you," Derek shrugged, "but as a dark type, you see clear as day down here."

"Well I'm not an Umbreon." She retorted, suppressing a yelp of surprise as she tripped on a rather thick tree root.

"But you could be."

Nova sighed, "no. Karen says-"

"Who cares what Karen thinks? You're your own Pokémon, so you should be able to choose what you want." Derek argued. "Who even is Karen anyway? Is she like your mom or something?"

"No, she's not my mom. She just runs the sewing shop." Nova responded.

"Then why are you listening to her?" He asked again.

"Because when my parents passed away, they wanted me to work in the shop, so they 'gave' me to Karen." She said, keeping her voice as steady as possible.

Derek stayed silent for a moment. "Well… if you stay out here with me and everyone else, then you can be free."

Nova shook her head. "I'm only here to get my leg fixed, I don't want to leave. I have friends in the Lumin Kingdom."

"Well, you can have friends out here in Fusc too if you'd like." Derek offered.

Nova smiled, "maybe."

"Great! You can meet-"

A rustling sound in the bushes silenced him. His hackles rose and he started scenting the air, laughing and relaxing his body language when he recognized the scent.

"Sterling! That was a dirty trick!" He laughed.

"Sterling?" Nova repeated, staring at the bushes.

"That was too easy!" A voice giggled.

A silver Eevee stepped out from behind the thickets, a grin plastered onto its face. Her grin broadened when she saw Nova.

"Sweet! You brought another Eevee? About time! It was getting lonely around here with just me," she said as she approached Nova, "I'm Sterling, what's your name?"

"Nova." She responded, staring at Sterling.

Never before had she seen a shiny Pokémon before.

"Hi, Nova!" Sterling responded cheerfully.

The silver Pokémon turned to Derek. "So is she here to stay?" She asked hopefully.

Nova answered for him. "No. I'm only here to get my leg fixed."

"Oh." Sterling mumbled, her tail dropping.

Derek nodded awkwardly. "Okay, so… I guess we should take her to Luna."

Sterling nodded. "Yeah…"

Nova stayed silent and followed the two, feeling slightly guilty. "Um… maybe I could stay the night," she said, "I mean, it's getting really dark out and all…"

Sterling and Derek shot each other excited glances.

"Really?" Sterling asked, her tail picking itself out of the muck.

Nova nodded, "if you'll have me."

"Of course, Luna loves visitors." Derek grinned.

XXX

The hollow that Derek and Sterling led her into was more inviting than Nova thought it would be. Apart from the few suspicious glances that a small amount of Pokémon gave her, most were excited to have a non-hostile visitor from the Lumin Kingdom.

"So which one's Luna?" Nova asked as she smiled at a group of young Poocheyena.

"Luna's an Absol." Derek replied.

"And she's our leader." Sterling added, her eyes gleaming as she fell into step with Nova.

"Oh! There she is!" Derek barked, running ahead.

"Normally I would run, but this time I'm going to walk." Sterling said, eyeing Nova's stiffening leg.

Nova blinked her thanks and tried to go a little faster. When they caught up to Derek, he was already talking to the Absol. Something seemed off about the white dark type to Nova. She turned to Sterling.

"Do all Absol have wings?" She whispered.

"Nope. She's just wearing her pendant," Sterling explained, "it gives her mysterious power. It's pretty cool."

"Is that how she heals?" Nova wondered aloud.

"Nope. It's actually Roy who does that."

"And Roy is?"

"A Meganium." Sterling replied.

She nodded. "And he will heal me how?"

"I don't know," Sterling said, "I'm not the healer."

Nova opened her jaws to respond when a new voice filled her ears.

"A Lumin? This is strange." An Absol murmured, a calm look on its face.

"Hi, Luna!" Sterling greeted.

Luna nodded at the shiny Eevee and turned her attention to Nova. "So you've got a leg issue? And you want to stay the night?" She conformed.

"Yeah, if that's alright with you." Nova replied sheepishly.

"Oh it's no problem. Welcome to Fusc." She smiled.

"Wow… I wonder what Farah, Hilary, and Steph are going to say when I tell them what's on the other side of the wall." Nova giggled, surprised at the dark type's hospitality.

"And you're Nova, right?"

"Yep." Nova chirped.

"So-"

"Someone called for me?" A Meganium asked as he approached the small group.

Luna nodded and gestured to Nova.

He took one look at the leg and smiled. "This'll be an easy fix."

"Thanks, Roy." Luna said.

"Not a problem." Roy grinned as he left and came back seconds later with a bundle of herbs and berries.

Nova looked skeptically at the bundle. "That's going to make my leg look good how?"

"Just wait." Roy said patiently, extending two vines from behind the large flower around his neck and pulling the bundle apart.

Nova extended her leg and watched the grass type apply the herbs to her leg. She looked to her side when something prodded her.

"Hey, um, Nova?" Luna began.

"Yeah?" Nova responded, motioning for her to go on.

"Well, we sort of… 'spy' on Lumin to make sure they're not going to attack us or anything, and Sterling usually has to go alone since she and Roy are the only Pokémon allowed in Lumin. I personally think that Sterling's performance would drastically improve if she had a partner. Basically I'm asking if you'll join us."


End file.
